Selector-switch.



J. N. REYNOLDS.

SELECTOR SWITCH.

APPLICATIGN FILED MAY 10. 1913. RENEWED MAR. 25. 1915.

Patented May18,1915

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. REYNOLDS, OF GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOTQ SELECTOR-SWITCH.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN N. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State cf Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in SelectorSwitches, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in telephone switch mechanisms such as shown in my copending application Serial No. 766,879, filed May 10, 1913, and is particularly designed for .use as a line switch or trunk finder, although obviously it is. adapted to be used for other purposes.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a switch of this character in which the terminal contacts are mounted in a bank and in which the connection between incoming and outgoing line terminals is effected by the successive rotary movement of a pair of bars or shafts.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses.

In order to facilitate theexplana-tion and understanding of this'invention, it will now be described as a line switch or trunk finder and as such might be arranged to serve, for example, a group of one hundred subscribers lines and acorresponding group of trunk lines. It is 'of course obvious that in the following description, the terms incoming lines and outgoing lines might be substituted for lines or subscribers lines and trunk lines respectively.

The embodiment of the apparatus herein disclosed comprises two sets of substantially parallel rotatablebars or shafts correspondmg to the subscribers lines and trunk lines respectively. These bars at each of their ad acent points or points of intersection are provided with contact operating means, each trunk bar being provided with a rotatable and flexible arm and each line bar witha cam. Line terminals and trunk terminalsfiin the form of projecting contact springsare rigidly mounted in a frame or terminal banjr at one side of and parallel to the bars v ith their free ends projecting outwardly in a position to be actuated by the contact operating means of a pair of bars upon the successive rotary movement of a bar of eachfset. One of the trunk bars or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

25, 1915. Serial N0. 17,052."

shafts would normally be displaced to a position such that the succeeding rotary movement of a line bar would eii'ect interengagement of the terminals of the line with the terminals of the trunk corresponding to the preselected or set trunkbar.

For a more complete disclosure, reference is now made to the drawing which shows a perspective view of the device with parts broken away and in which,

1 represents a base or supporting member of any desired kind. Mounted upon the base 1 at the rear thereof is a terminal bank 2. Projecting upwardly from said base at each end thereof are the supporting bars 3 and 4 respectively. Pivotally mounted in the supports 3 and 4 is a plurality of rotatable'bars or shafts 5 hereinafter to be referred to as line bars. One of these bars will be provided for each incoming line to be served. Pivotally mounted between the base member 1 and the supporting brackets 6, projecting from the upper portion of the terminal bank 2, is a plurality of trunk bars 7, one for each trunk, or out-going line. The bars of these two sets are in parallel planes and adjacent to each other and, at each of the points where the bars cross or intersect, that is at the points where they are adjacent to one another, they are provided with cooperating contact actuating means hereinafter to be described. Projecting outwardly'lrom the terminal bank with their free ends in proximity to the adjacent points of said bars is a plurality of contact sets. Each set, as illustrated, consists of line terminals 8, 9 and-1O and trunk terminals 11, 12 and 13. All the corresponding line terminals which project outwardly in a position to be actuated by the same line bar 5, are multiply connected by being formed as integral portions of conducting strips 14, 15 and 16 respectively, and all the corresponding trunk terminals of the sets which extend in a position to be actuated by the same trunk bar are multiply connected by the conductors 17, 18 and 19 respectively. Mounted between the springs 8 and 12 and 9 and 13 respectively are the insulating spacing blocks 41 and 42.

Rotatably mounted on each of the trunk bars 7 by means of the yokes 20 is a 13111-- is provided at the outer end thereof with an insulating knob ll) which, upon anticlockwise rotary movement of its supporting bar 7, is adapted to be positioned immediately under the lowermost spring 10 of its respectiye contact set. These arm 21 are so formed that they may be readily flexed in the plane of their supporting shafts but are comparatively rigid in a direction transverse thereto. .Rigidly secured to the shaft 7 between the upper and lower members of theyoke is a sleeve which prevents longitudinal movement of the arm on the shaft. Encircling the sleeve, with one end secured thereto and the other end tot-he yoke, is a spring 23 which serves when the bar is'in normal position to retain the contact actuating arms in a position slightly to the right of' the cooperating contact operating member on the corresponding line bar.

'Rigidly secured to the line bars, adjacent to and preferably under the free ends of the contact" sets respectively, is a plurality of grooved cam members'Ql; one being provided-for eachcontact actuating arm 21 near the lower end of each of the trunk bars 7 is an armature normally held retracted against the stop pin 26 by the spring Mounted inopcrative relation to each armature is an electromagnet 28 adapted to rotate said bar in anti-clockwise direction as viewed from above. Rigidly secured to ach line bar 5 and projecting downwardly "therefrom is an armature 29 normally held retracted against the stop 30' by the spring 31. l\lounte'd"' in operative relation to each armature 29 is an electromagnet 32's0 located that-upon energization it will rotate said bar in a clockwise direction as viewed from the right.

33' and 34 represent any appropriate circuitcontrolling'devices which are adapted at appropriate-intervals to close an energizing circuit for the electromagnets 28 and 32 respectively.

lllaving now described the structure of i the switch, its'operation briefly will be as follows: Through the operation of circuit controlling means, which need not be here described, some one of the electromagnets 28 will: at all times be energized and consequently one of the-trunk'bars 7 will at all times be rotated to set or operative position. This rotation of the trunk bar will place each ofits insulating portions 40 in operative relation, or, as shown in the drawings, directly under its respective contact set and directly over its cooperating cam on the line --bar. .Now 11' on the event of an incomin c'all, one of the electroniagnets 32 "will become cnergiv.ed through the operation of the appropriate circuit controlling devices, thus rotating thetyn-respomling line bar 5. The grooved cam ,22! will thus engage the I engagement of their however, will be released immediately after the contact set has been actuated and will return to normal carrying with it all its contact actuating arms with the exception of the one engaged by the 'rooved cam 24: of

c the actuated line bar. Another bar, however, representing an idle trunk or outgoing line will be immediately rotated to set or receptive position. l pon the rotation of the next trunk bar to set position, the insulating portion -10 thereof will engage the forward face of the corresponding cam 2-l of the actuated line bar and will be held from passing into operative relation to the corresponding contact setby means thereof, the shaft 7 turning freely in the yoke 20. Upon the termination of a connection, means will be actuated which will cause the deenergization of the electromagnet32, and the corre sponding bar 5 willthen be'rotated back.

to its normal, position by its "spring 31, thus releasing the contact actuating arm 21 which under the tension of the spring23will be rotated back to normal position in alinement with the other unactuated contact arms of the same rod.

As many modifications might readily be made in this invention withoutdeparting from the "spirit thereof, the invention should be limited merely by' the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, contact springs adjacent and individual to said bars respectively, and means for rotating abar of each set to effect interrespective contact springs.

2. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, contact sets adjacent to said bars, and means whereby the rotation of a bar of each set will actuate a contact set.

3. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, stationary contact sets adj accnt to said bars, and means whereby'the rotation of a bar of each set in a definite order only will actuate one of said contact sets.

4. In a telephone switch; sets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, contact springs individual to each of said bars and in proximity to their adjacent points, and means for to tating a bar of each set to effect interengagement of their respective contact springs.

5. In a telephone sivitclnsets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, contact springs adjacent and individual to said bars respectively,

and means whereby rotating a bar of each set in a definite order only will effect interengagcment of their respective contact springs.

6. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being adjacent and at substantially right-angles to those of the other, contact springs-individual to each of said bars in proximity to their adjacent points, and means for rotating a bar of each set to effect interengagement of their respecti ve contact springs.

7. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, contact springs individual to each of said bars in proximity to their adjacent points, means whereby rotating a bar of each set will effect engagement of their respective contact springs, and electromagnetic means for rotating said bar.

8. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, stationary contact sets adjacent to said bars, means whereby the rotation of a bar of each set will actuate one of said contact sets, and means depending upon the rotary position of a single one of said bars for maintaining said contact set actuated. A

'9. A telephone switch comprising sets of rotatable shafts, the shafts of one set being at an angle to those of the other, multipled circuit terminals mounted adjacent to the shafts of said sets respectively, andmeans whereby the selective and successiverotation of a shaft of each set in a definite order only will effect interengagement of the terminals of a predetermined circuit of each group.

10. A telephone switch comprising sets of rotatable shafts, the shafts of one set being at an angle to those of the other, multipled circuit terminals mounted adjacent to the intersecting points of the shafts of said sets respectively, means whereby the selective and successive rotation of a shaft of each set will effect interengagement of the terminals of a predetermined circuit of eachgroup, and means depending upon the rotary position of a certain one only of said shafts for maintaining the interengagement of said terminals. j

11. In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, contact sets mounted independently of and in proximity to the adacent oints of said bars r'es cctivel and means for successively rotating a bar of each set to actuate the contact set in proximity to their. adjacent points.

In a telephone switch, sets of rotatable bars, sets of fixed spring contacts mounted with their free ends in proximity to intersecting points of said bars, coiipcrating contact actuating members mounted on said bars at their points of intersection,

said contact actuating members being so arranged that the rotation of'a bar of each set will actuate the contact set in proximity to the point of intersection of said bars.

13. In a telephone switch, sets of bars, the bars of one set being at an angle to those of the other, contact sets in proximity to the adjacent points of said bars, a flexible arm rotatably mounted on each of the. bars of the first set adjacent to each of the bars of the second set, acam on each of the bars of the second set in operative relation to its respective flexible arm, and separate means for dis placing a bar of each set, whereby a flexible arm and a cam .Will cooperate to actuate the adjacent contact set.

1 14-. In a telephone switch, sets of bars, the bars of one set bein arranged at an angle to those of the other, a terminal bank, sets of contact springs projectingfroni said bank, the free ends of said springs being in proximity to the intersecting points of said bars, means for successively rotating a bar of each set whereby the contact setin proximity to their point of intersection will be actuated and means depending on the rotary position of a single one of said bars for maintaining said contact set actuated.

15. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersecting shafts, relatively stationary contact sets mounted independently of said shafts at the intersections thereof, and means effective upon conjoint an ular displacement of two intersecting shaf ts for operating a contact set.

16. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersecting bars, contact sets mounted independently of and adjacent the intersections of said bars, and means effective upon bars for operating the adjacent contact-set.

17. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersecting bars, sets, of spring contacts rig- I idly mounted in a frame, with their free ends adjacent the intersections of said bars, andmeans effective upon conjoint displacement of two intersecting bars for operating the adjacent contact set.

18. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersectingshafts, contact sets at the intersections of said shafts, means effective upon conjoint angular displacement of two intersecting sha ts for operating a contact set, said means comprising a movable arm carried by one of said shafts and a projection carried by theother.

19. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersecting bars, contact sets at the intersecions of said bars, means for displacing any bar of one of said sets, a flexible arm carried 126 by said bar adjacent each bar of the other set, a rigid projection on eachbar of the other set adjacent each bar of the first-mentio'ned set, and means for displacing any bar of said other set, the said flexible arm and 130 j AUU a c said rigid projection at the intersections of said displaced bars cooperating to actuate a contact set.

20. In a switch, the combination of sets of intersecting bars, contact sets at the intersections of said bars, means for displacing any bar of one of said sets, a flexible arm carried by said-bar adjacent'each bar of the other set, a rigid projection on each bar of the other set adjacent each barof the first-men-' tioned set, means for displacing any bar of said other set, the said flexible arm and the rigid projection at the intersections of said displaced bars cooperating to actuate a 00115 W. F; HOFFMAN, V. H. BROWN. 

